A Drag Party on the Deck of the Titanic: The US Premiere of Anna Nicole (NYCO at BAM)

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Last night was the US premiere of Anna Nicole performed by New York City Opera at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.   Here are our thoughts.

Elizabeth – Richard Jones’ production of Anna Nicole made an overall triumphant American debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last night courtesy of the sagging New York City Opera.  There was a pre-party fête held on the mezzanine for donors, but all of BAM was decked out for the premiere in pink lights, chandeliers, feathers, pearls in martini glasses and even a Kia with ANNANICOLE license plate.  I’m not sure how the Kia in the lobby fit in with Anna Nicole, but the crowd was abuzz with excitement.  It was a rather different scene than what I’m used to at the Met, and was a breath of fresh air in the typically staid world of opera.
Anna Nicole was great fun.  Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage’s portrayal of Anna Nicole’s life surprisingly engaged and elicited sympathy.  Hers is a trite rags to riches story (courtesy of breast implants and a boob and boob-loving billionaire, J. Howard Marshall II) followed by a rapid downfall due to addiction and the death of her son, Daniel.  I found the theme of back pain, present throughout the opera rather poignant.  Anna Nicole becomes a very relatable person, a human seeking out love rather than a mere reality television caricature.
The opera’s libretto by Richard Thomas is clever and funny; but the delivery wasn’t quite as engaging.  Sarah Joy Miller as Anna Nicole was beautiful in the role, although a bit light.  There was clearly some kind of mike involved as there was audial feedback several times throughout the evening; a disappointing distraction.  The music, as enthusiastically conducted by Steven Sloane, while complex as it switched tempo and form often evoking different emotions and periods of Anna Nicole’s life, did not carry the opera.  To me, this became more of a musical than an opera given the supporting role the music played to the words, to my ear.  The plentiful Broadway actors and dancers in the production added to that aura.
But the production is witty and entertaining.  Anna Nicole’s stint at the “soul sucking” Walmart with her expressionless co-workers was funny, but also sad in its brutal honesty of the life and frustration of low wage workers.  The strip club was impressive with its well-endowed pole dancers and neon lights.  The “breast-less masses” at the plastic surgeon had the audience laughing.  And Marshall’s arrival on the scene, floating in like a decrepit fairy godmother was hilarious.  Rod Gilfry’s Howard Stern is creepily often present throughout the opera, showing up in scenes in which he doesn’t belong.  Gilfry’s powerful voice well reflected the control Stern sought and exerted over Anna Nicole. 
 

At times the production veered into raunchy.  I cringed at the end of Act I when Anna Nicole, now firmly ensconced with Marshall, greedily and gleefully exclaims, among other things, that she is going to “rape the American Dream”.  But overall this was a great evening, and one that left me thinking about Anna Nicole the person, and wanting to peck through her story more, much as the dancers dressed as cameras pecked through her garbage.



Shawn – Every time I go to BAM there is an onstage blowjob.  I have to wonder, is it me?  But unlike my previous BAM/NYCO blowjob, last night I didn’t get to see a single penis.  Much to my detriment, no doubt.
Anna Nicole is the fourth major contemporary fully staged opera I have seen in my life.  We saw The Tempest and Powder Her Face last year and I saw Dr Atomic at the Met in 2008.  I have been looking forward to Anna Nicole for over a year.  And even NYCO’s recent missteps and fundraising insanity did not diminish my interest in the production, only my loyalty and respect for the company producing it.  The evening increased both a) my admiration and excitement over Anna Nicole and b) my irritation and disappointment with NYCO.
a) I really liked Anna Nicole.  You don’t get to hear the word ‘douchebag’ sung from the operatic stage very often.  Nor the word ‘cuntistration’.  If that is a word.  I have my doubts but I like it.  The production was light, colorful, engaging and moved along at a fast pace.  It felt far shorter than the listed 125 minutes of stage time.
Sarah Joy Miller was alternately adorable and repellant as Anna Nicole.  Just like the Lady herself.  Acting-wise she was right on, finding a way to project childlike enthusiasm and sex appeal simultaneously throughout the first act and, in the second, navigating the drug addled humiliations and tragic losses without veering into the melodrama, caricature or self-parody the entire piece risks slipping into at times.  Vocally she sounded fine, if a bit slight.  She was miked in some way although I’m not entirely sure how.  The supporting singers’ voice volume often spiked when they sang close to and facing her once to the point of audial feedback in whatever amplification system BAM was using.  Other singers could have been miked as well.  I only noticed her most due to the periodic volume spikes, often during intimate duet moments.
   
Rod Gilfry was particularly strong as the lawyer Howard Stern as was Susan Bickley as Anna Nicole’s mother, Virgie.  Bickley’s ovation from the audience at the end almost rivaled Miller’s.  And John Easterlin as Larry King was able to find a streak of fay threat in his King that was particularly effective if not really representative of Larry King himself. 
The NYCO Orchestra under Steven Sloane performed the often musically eclectic score admirably and were very well received by the audience.  
The visuals and sets were appropriately pop without being flat.  Larry King’s studio was particularly vivid and effective.  The show’s final visual of the camera dancers gathered around Anna Nicole’s dead black bagged body while clawing at her garbage like psychotic chickens was visceral and has stuck with me.  I think I dreamt about it last night actually.  
Okay now b) My increased irritation and disappointment with New York City Opera. Couldn’t NYCO have waited until AFTER the Anna Nicole premiere to launch the Kickstarter nonsense?  It really cast a pallor over the evening’s activities.  “A Benefit for BAM and NYCO Celebrating the US Premiere of Anna Nicole” read the BAM playbill insert. 

The tony “high end” pre AND after-party and Kia car tie-in seemed especially trite in light of NYCO’s public desperation and plea for funds lest it cancel the rest of the season effective immediately following the last performance of Anna Nicole.  In BAM’s lobby there was a black Kia complete with ANNANICOLE license plate and a sign encouraging guests to take photos by the car in their “Best Red Carpet Pose”.  The entire theatre was decked out in sequins and boas and feathers.  It felt to me like a drag party on the deck of the Titanic. 

As one of the #AnnaNicole tweets last night read – “People don’t donate money to NYCO to see it go to ‘sequins and boas’ for the after party.  This is sort of a super shame.”  

– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes

(Photos courtesy of New York City Opera and Royal Opera House)

Related Links:

New York City Opera, Kickstarter and the WTF Moment

Metropolitan Opera Season Preview 2013-14 (Special All-Girl’s Edition)

Discordant Fellatio: Powder Her Face (NYCO at BAM)

Pineapples, Piñatas and Offenbach: NYCO’s La Périchole

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